Sennar's Mission Read Online Free PDF Page B

boy became his first friend. His name was Dodi. He was the cabin boy. Fifteen years old, he’d been at sea since the age of ten. He was the illegitimate child of one of the pirates. His father had wanted nothing to do with him, but then when the mother died he’d decided to bring him along.
    Sennar was still suffering from seasickness, unable to adapt to the ship’s steady rolling, and Dodi had elected himself his personal caregiver. “I was the same way, at first. But don’t worry, a little salted herring and it’ll pass.”
    The sorcerer, however, proved immune to all remedies. Sailor’s crackers, stale bread, anchovies, beef jerky, nothing seemed to diminish his nausea.
    One evening, Dodi threw in the towel. “For the love of the sea gods! It’s completely pointless with you. I mean, why don’t you just cure yourself, being a sorcerer and all?”
    Sennar lifted his head slowly, just enough to catch Dodi in the corner of his eye, as his seasickness allowed for no sudden movements. “You think I wouldn’t do it if I could?”
    Dodi widened his eyes. “Hold on. Explain to me why a sorcerer can’t take care of such a simple problem.”
    With some reluctance, Sennar tried to explain. “It’s not that a sorcerer’s incapable. It’s a bit more complicated. Performing magic consumes a great deal of energy.” Sennar held back from retching. Under his breath, he cursed every single wave in the ocean, one by one. . “If you cast a spell when you’re rested and feeling well, the worst that can happen is it tires you out. Almost like after a sprint, do you follow?”
    “Or after having scrubbed the deck from top to bottom,” the ship’s boy laughed.
    “Exactly.” Sennar smiled and paused once more, trying to quell the turmoil in his stomach. “But if you’re not feeling so well, performing magic only makes things worse. At most, you can speed up the healing process of an already healing wound, but anything beyond that is impossible. Which is to say, at the moment I’m something of a sidelined sorcerer.”
    “I always pictured sorcerers as being a bit tougher.”
    Sennar shook his head. “Wait a second. Doesn’t waging war tire warriors? Well, performing sorcery tires sorcerers. And then it depends on the spell you’re casting. Levitation is extremely demanding, but to keep a little flame burning night and day requires only minimal effort. Of course, the more talented and powerful the sorcerer, the less energy it takes to cast a spell. But everyone has his limits. The most demanding spells require enormous amounts of energy even from sorcerers of …” Sennar cut off his speech and closed his eyes. One more word and he’d lose his lunch.
    “Sorcerer … you still with us?” Dodi asked.
    “Yes, yes. Everything’s fine.”
    “But other than that,” the boy insisted, “besides getting tired and all, you can basically do what you please, right?”
    “Not exactly. Do you know the difference between the Council’s magic and the Tyrant’s magic?”
    Dodi shook his head no.
    “The Council’s magic, the only permissible magic, is based on one’s capacity to mold nature according to its will. Which is why sorcerers are wise. They must understand the laws of the natural world in order to reinforce them and guide them with their own magic. Sorcerers don’t defy nature; they employ it toward its own end. It’s a complex art.”
    “What’s something you can’t do, for example?” Dodi asked, his eyes widening with interest.
    Sennar thought for a moment. The seasickness had gone to his brain, too. “I can’t create something out of nothing, nor can I alter a creature’s essence, say, turn a pig into a bird. At most I can transfigure it, give it the appearance of a bird. I cannot create the elements—no rain when there’s a drought, or summer sun in the middle of winter. Though I can prolong the rain for a certain period of time, increase the wind’s intensity, and so on.”
    “And the guy you